June 07, 2017
McIntyre to lead Association of Teacher Educators in 2019-2020
CARBONDALE, Ill. – Christie McIntyre, a Southern Illinois University Carbondale faculty member, has been elected to the executive committee of a national organization devoted to the improvement of teacher education.
McIntyre, associate professor and chair of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, will serve as second vice president of the Association of Teacher Educators for 2017-2018. She will then move up to the first vice president position before becoming president for the organization’s centennial year, 2019-2020.
ATE’s membership includes representatives from more than 650 colleges and universities, 500 major school systems and the majority of the country’s state education departments. The organization collaborates with other national educational organizations to enhance teaching, teacher education and higher education and also weighs in on legislation and initiatives that affect teachers at the state and national levels.
SIU originated in 1869 as a teachers college and McIntyre’s election lends the university’s voice to the concerns that affect teachers and education, she said.
“We have an opportunity at the national level to be a part of the conversation that impacts the preparation of teachers for the classroom and also to work together to form policy that supports teachers and the valuable work they do,” McIntyre said. “I will have input into things in Washington, D.C., that relate to teacher education and higher education. This allows SIU to be involved in teacher advocacy at the highest levels.”
McIntyre has a longstanding connection to ATE. She earned her doctoral, master’s and bachelor’s degrees at Georgia State University and as a graduate student there worked with Edi Guyton, who served as president of the group in 2000. McIntyre even travelled to the nation’s capital with Guyton for ATE business.
McIntyre is in her second year as a member of the organization’s board of directors. She has also served on the ATE Research Committee, as co-coordinator of the Distinguished Research in Teacher Education Selection Committee, chaired the Task Force on Student Leaders, and has been a member of the group’s Leadership Academy and Commission on Constructivism as well as serving on other committees. She will chair the 2019 ATE annual conference in Atlanta.
McIntyre has been at SIU since 2001, originally serving as the center coordinator of field experiences for the College of Education and Human Services and subsequently earning a number of promotions to attain her current position. Her research interests include assessing student learning, literacy in the primary classroom, teacher development and applications of the constructivist learning theory in classrooms. She’s earned recognition for her teaching, served on a variety of committees and councils within her field and at the university. She has also been the faculty adviser for Educ8kdz, an SIU student organization for future teachers, for five years.
She said she’s excited to assume her new role with ATE and learn more about the diverse issues that affect teachers and education and engage with stakeholders, constituents and legislators to advocate for positive change.
“We look forward to the expanded voice we will have as we work together on the issues that affect our work in public education,” McIntyre said.